living in the hamptons
by antarcticas
Summary: "he feels some pity for her. she's just as trapped as he is, really." —jasonpiper


Piper hates to be a 'damsel in distress', but it's not her fault that she is one. She puts it on her father and his insistence that she rarely leave her room, that she never talk to anyone he does not know, and that she is silent. Always.

He says he is protecting her from the villains of the world. She thinks he is making her more vulnerable to them.

Because Piper, with her pretty kaleidoscope eyes, her chocolate brown braided hair, and creamy skin, — well, she doesn't know anything about life. She has spent sixteen years locked up in her room, in her mansion, seeing the same people every day, every week, every month, every year. Nothing ever changes for her. She wants to escape this world.

Hazel Levesque is the only friend she has, the daughter of one of her father's business colleagues. And Hazel gets to live. Live within the control of her father and mother, of course, but still, _live_.

And one day Hazel jumps into Piper's room and onto her bed and starts blushing. Then she says, "I kissed a guy."

So, yes, Piper's technically a hermit, but she still reads. She fires off questions rapidly. "Wait. What. _Who?_ Does your dad know?"

The last one puts a damper on Hazel's demeanor. The fourteen-year-old swings her legs off the bed. "His name's Frank, and no, my dad doesn't know. I don't think I'll tell him."

"Why?" Piper is aghast. She can't imagine not telling something to her father. Her father knows everything about her. He protects her.

Hazel sighs and then (a bit condescendingly) puts her hand on her best friend's shoulder. "You don't have to do everything he tells you to do, you know."

She sighs. "He's just trying to help me."

The mood is now sober. "Haven't you ever felt the need to rebel?" Hazel pressures. "To do something you're not supposed to do? Meet people, see people, learn things? The world is not your books, Piper. It's a real place and it's not perfect but you have the right to think what you want of it. Don't let him make decisions for you."

"But he cares so —"

"Pipes, after your mom left him, he got insecure. He doesn't want you to leave him. It's been sixteen years and he still doesn't understand that you're an independent person and that you love him. I'm not encouraging you to sneak out but maybe you should. To teach him a lesson and to feel what freedom is like. You can't live your life inside of this house, only seeing your father's business colleagues and me and your teachers and servants. There is more, Piper."

"I can't —"

Hazel shakes her head and moves to get out of the room. "You're such a damsel in distress. Live a little, would you?"

When she leaves, the door remains open, and Piper slides onto her bed with her head in her hands.

* * *

Jason Grace is seventeen and he doesn't have a father. No, he has a _mentor_. Somebody who teaches him what to say and when to say it but never actually spends time with him. And his mother, who is a chronic alcoholic at this point, is often barely coherent enough to talk to him. So she spends no time with him either.

His sister left their destructive family the minute she turned eighteen. Jason wishes he could do the same, but he feels duty to his family. Duty to carry on the legacy of _Jupiter Manufacturing._ Damn, does he hate his life. He wishes he could leave his life, sometimes. But he knows he can't.

As he strides into the McLean's reception room, right behind his mother and father, he feels like rolling his eyes at the way the place is set up. Not even slightly original. There's no touch to the room, no elegance — it's lacking something. He is used to austere environments but he still feels like it is lacking something.

Then he turns around and sees the girl.

Her eyes are kaleidoscopes, beautiful yet closed-off. Her hair is chocolate brown, braided back elegantly and neatly, and her gown is a soft gold that suits her coloring. And she is gorgeous. He doesn't think he's ever seen her before but he's falling for her already.

He looks around the room again. And now, now it is not lacking anything. Now she is everything.

He's in a dazed stupor, staring at her, when his dad (Mentor? Definitely not father) turns around and whispers to him, "That's Tristan's daughter. He keeps her locked up in her room, I've heard. To protect her, after her mother ran from him. He has always been paranoid. Talk to her, make friends. She could potentially be an ally for you."

Then he looks at the girl. She looks more like a damsel in distress than a business ally — slightly hassled from the small amount of people in the room already. He feels some pity for her. She's just as trapped as he is, really. Stuck to do her father's bidding. Hers wants her to do nothing. His wants him to do everything. The pressure, whatever form it takes, is probably enough to drive anyone mad.

To decline into insanity.

* * *

After loitering around for fifteen minutes, Jason is already looking for an escape. The only other person his age here is the girl and she's disappeared. He's been trying to look for her, but he can't try to hard without being caught by his mentor/father hybrid and being lectured on why he's not having a conversation with someone useful.

Then he sits down at one of the white-clothed tables in the corner and folds his hands together. He thinks he's alone, but when he moves his leg he hears a loud " _Ow!"_

 _What?_ He thinks and then slightly moves back the fabric and sees a pair of white high-heeled shoes on tan skin and the beginnings of a gold dress. Then he thinks again. _Oh, please. Not now. I'll embarrass myself._

But it is her, it is now, and he does embarrass himself. "Bleh — I'm Jason!"

He holds out one hand enthusiastically to help her up, the other holding up the tablecloth. She looks warily at his face before she latches on to it and pulls herself up. After she's in a sitting position, a strand of the braid in her face, she pushes it back and smiles at him shyly. It's adorable. "I'm Piper. Thanks, Jason."

Piper. He's naming his first plane prototype 'Piper'. It's so perfect.

"Always," he whispers back, not realizing that he still has her hand in his. He lets it go and feels a blush starting to grow on his face. Then he thinks that he has probably just creeped Piper out. "Sorry."

"It's — it's alright," she says.

* * *

That's when Piper realizes that she just held a boy's hand for the first time in her life. And not a bad looking boy. His name's Jason. She likes the name Jason. It sounds a little regal. Much better than Piper.

He's handsome, very much so. With golden hair and electric blue eyes and a chiseled jawline. From the few words he's said he seems nice enough as well.

His eyes — they are very closed-off but so _very_ bright. He's smiling at her right now. From how he had seemed before the meeting, from the moments before this, she wouldn't think that he'd like smiling. He hadn't done it until he saw her. She doesn't know what that really means.

In her storybooks it would mean that he's the Prince Charming come to save the Princess. But she's smart enough to know real life doesn't work that way.

"Um . . ." he starts to speak, then stops. "Um, would you like something to drink?"

She just nods. She doesn't trust herself to say anything. He gets up and heads toward a waiter a few feet away, and after grabbing a few glasses of (what she hopes is) juice, he slides back next to her. She sips slowly. What should she say? Oh, she does not know what to say.

"Your father?" she ends up choking out, and then immediately covers her mouth. Trust her to talk about fathers.

He doesn't seem to notice her discomfort. " _Jupiter Manufacturing_. Planes. You're looking at the one and only heir." The words sound important but his voice is bland. "Yours?"

"This is the first night I've met someone my age other than my friend Hazel — you know her, daughter of the owner of _Underworld Enterprises —_ because he's protective, I guess. Doesn't let me go out much. Or, well, ever."

Jason winces a little at the last sentence. "Mine's the opposite, I suppose. Not even a father, really. I'm meant to take over the company, nothing else."

They share lost looks then sit in silence a minute. Then, Piper holds out her hand.

Jason is surprised, but he takes it.

Then he asks, "Why?"

"I don't want to be a damsel in distress," she says, "and I think you might be able to help me with that."

* * *

 **querencia quarter quell round four: damsel in distress / pretty eyes / closed-off / the mentor / decline into insanity**

 **thanks to di (cheadsearc) for the beta work ;)**

 **not my best work (and kinda fluffy) but i hope y'all like it. i'm decently proud.**

— **dee**


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